That wet party, the Lib Dems, so small its MPs could meet in a ‘phone box if they were vying for a place in The Guinness Book of Records.
The Lib Dems are losers. There are eleven of them in the Commons but as any fool knows fourteen people can cram into a ‘phone box. That’s not why they are losers. They are losers because they are sensible, intelligent, middle class folk appealing to the electorate to pay more tax. They wanted a 1% rise in income tax to pay for something – I forget what. At the last General Election that Maoist, Marxist, spawn of Stalin and Satan (biologically unlikely), John McDonnell, suggested those with the broadest shoulders should bear more of the tax burden. Being puny I wondered if I might be excluded. And where did that get him? Not into Number 11 Downing Street.
It has become a shibboleth, a sacred cow, a line in the sand (that’s enough cliches) to promise no tax rises. A booming economy and high employment swells the tax-take but for a year the Chancellor’s train has been derailed; a three pipe problem for Rishi. He has done precisely what I would have done – nothing – awaiting events. Slyly he didn’t increase a few things in line with inflation but nobody notices that legerdemain.
Where tax is rising is at a local level. Hammersmith and Fulham have hiked my council tax bill by 6.3%. This breaks down into a 2% increase for the council, 9.5% more for the Greater London Authority led by Labour mayor Sadiq Khan, and a 3% increase for the Adult Social Care Precept – whatever that is when it’s at home. It has been a challenging year so I’m not complaining. But I do feel sorry for households with tight budgets that will find it hard to cope.
And electricity is a shocker – up 10.3%. That’s edf, ranked ‘Excellent’ by Trustpilot. Thames Water is more satisfactory because it doesn’t provide any information on price changes. They have been overcharging me so much on a Direct Debit they are reducing my monthly payments from £159 to £16. Something else that’s affordable is my mobile. A fixed charge of £10.73 a month with a bit extra added for calls to Ireland. BT Broadband is outrageous at £65 a month and rising, like my blood pressure.
So it’s fortunate MP Evans has come to the rescue. Here is how they did in 2020.
− Profit for the year US$22.2 million (2019 US$7.5 million)
− Operating profit US$31.3 million (2019 US$16.1 million)
− Sustainability premia increased to US$2.6 million (2019 US$1.9 million)
− Continuing EPS 37.4 US cents (2019 – 11.6 US cents)
− 24% increase in total dividend for the year with proposed final dividend of 17p per share
− Intention to propose 30p per share total dividend in respect of 2021
Yes, I’m foxed by the sustainability premia too. The Chairman seems happy: “I am pleased to report that 2020 was another record year for production and revenue resulting in a sharp rise in profit, which nearly trebled to US$22.2 million, and an increase in sustainability premia. Given this performance the board is recommending a final dividend of 17p per share, an increase of 4.25p, bringing total dividends for the year to 22p per share. In view of the strong increase in crop and production projected for the immediate future and the prospects for the palm-oil market, the board intends to recommend a dividend of 30p per share in respect of the 2021 financial year.”
So that’s the Council Tax and utility bills sorted. Now it’s time to book a holiday in the UK.
Surely Bundoran (where I was taken on holiday as a child) is not in the UK?
Crikey, you are spot on. My mistake. What are your memories of bracing Bundoran? Homan Potterton wrote so evocatively about his seaside holidays on the west coast of Ireland in Rathcormick.
It was well over half a century ago – but I remember that it was very nice. Lovely food in the hotel. My father went there for the golf. I recall that the caddies – boys not much older than myself – seemed heartbreakingly poor, shy, undernourished & unwashed; I’m sure they were generously tipped. We must have gone there out of season as I don’t remember swimming in the sea.